Author: James Taglienti

Split zone is a play that is actually known by another name, Slice, because of its creator. When Chris Ault invented the Pistol offense at Nevada-Reno in 2004, he named his inside zone play Slice. The line blocked zone, the TE or H-back came backside and blocked the unblocked defensive end, that was slice. Even today, when teams run split zone, many of them refer to the H-back or TE coming across the formation to block the EMLOS as a ‘slice block’. Play Concept Split zone is a simple play concept. Offensive line all zone blocks one way, leaving EMLOS…

The toss read or power toss read was all the rage several years ago. Clemson ran power toss read with Deshaun Watson and Kelly Bryant, Stanford ran toss read with Christian McCaffrey, even Texas A&M ran  toss read with a freshman Kellen Mond.  Power Toss Read was a popular concept because it combined QB Power Read and the toss play. If you had a running QB like Deshaun Watson or Kellen Mond or a dynamic RB like McCaffrey, toss read was a cheap add-on for teams running QB power read. Iowa State used their own twist on Power Toss Read…

Inside zone may be the most ubiquitous play in college football. If you look at the playbook of every college team, it is almost guaranteed inside zone is in there somewhere. Every single defense employed today starts out with how to stop inside zone. The popularity of the play is part simplicity and part logic. Basic geometry states the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. The object of football is to score as many points as possible. Fastest way to score the most points is score touchdowns. Shortest distance between here and the end zone is a…

Earlier this morning, ESPN Cleveland tweeted out speculation on the length of Cleveland Brown QB Deshaun Watson’s NFL suspension. Atlanta Falcons fans are in disbelief. https://twitter.com/ESPNCleveland/status/1546844305515548674 The response from Atlanta Falcons and Calvin Ridley fans was swift: https://twitter.com/benhumkeymusic/status/1546990300714782720 https://twitter.com/OhYeahBenny23/status/1546963210078720005 Falcons fans recall Ridley is currently on indefinite suspension to last at least the length of the 2022 season for betting on a game during the 2021 season. Ridley claimed he only bet $1500, he didn’t have a gambling problem,  and he was unable to watch the game he bet on.  Ridley acknowledged he was wrong but a year was too…

Although Jimbo Fisher is a proponent of inside zone,  outside zone, and the option in the running game, he is also a proponent of power football. One play Fisher uses to combine power football and the option is Q Hammer Bash. Q Hammer Bash is a play that has the ability to attack the defense both on the outside with speed and the edge with power. The play structure includes the ability to add an RPO, although I’ve yet to see that happen. Play Concept The name of the play is a terminology preference. Hammer means the backside guard and…

In spite of all of the speculation and excitement in the last 12 days since the B1G Conference announced their intent to add USC and UCLA to their conference, conference realignment is over for now. According to Matt Hayes of Saturday Down South, the SEC prefers to stay at 16 teams. https://twitter.com/MattHayesCFB/status/1546508012512321536 “We’re positioned at 16 (teams) for a robust future,” an SEC athletic director told SDS. “The need just isn’t there.” The SEC currently has 14 teams and expands to 16 when Oklahoma and Texas join the conference in 2025. At issue for the SEC right now is there…

When a team is known for running outside zone or stretch, a common adjustment by opposing defenses is to widen the alignment of their defensive ends. The first goal on stretch is to reach the defensive end so moving him further outside complicates this task. The adjustment by offensive teams is to run midzone. (Note: Football terminology differs from coach to coach, some coaches still call midzone outside zone. I call it midzone because of the slight change in tactics from outside zone.) Play Concept As you recall from reading previously about stretch, the goal of outside zone is for…

Liberty football coach Huge Freeze has a well-documented past. Before he came to Liberty, Michael Oher’s coach in The Blind Side  became head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels.  Freeze  coached at Ole Miss from 2012-2016 but was fired after it was discovered he used a university issued phone to call an escort service. Freeze lied about the phone calls, and a university investigation uncovered his lies.  Liberty hired Freeze as their new head coach in December of 2018. Freeze is 26-11 in three years as the head coach of the Flames. Why is a head football coach infamous for…

After looking at outside run concepts like speed option and stretch lead, today we’re looking at an inside run concept in ChUG. ChUG is an interior run play Jimbo Fisher brought with him when he arrived at A&M in 2018. When ChUG is run in a game, it is a sign Fisher has complete confidence in his center. Play Concept ChUG is an acronym for a fold block. A fold block consists of a down block by one offensive lineman while an adjacent lineman pulls around him and blocks the second level, usually a linebacker. The acronym tells you who…

Film study is integral to success in the NFL. NFL teams have whole staffs of analysts and scouts who spend hours and hours each week dissecting film. Staffs search for a slim edge they can exploit to win the next game. In Week 4 of the 2021 season, Atlanta Falcons film study showed a weakness in the secondary of the Washington Football Club. When the Falcons played Washington, they exploited that weakness. The Falcons noted Washington’s secondary has a weakness for the curl-flat-post concept. So the Falcons hit them with the same concept Buffalo used, too. I previously wrote about…